


I don’t know what I’m waiting for

by mysteriesofloves



Category: Gossip Girl (TV 2007)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:09:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23163784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteriesofloves/pseuds/mysteriesofloves
Summary: “Humphrey,” she says slowly, like she’s talking to a child. “My purse isn’t even going to fit in this thing.”
Relationships: Dan Humphrey/Blair Waldorf
Comments: 7
Kudos: 99





	I don’t know what I’m waiting for

**Author's Note:**

> A combination of rewatching When Harry Met Sally and the longer fics I’m currently writing kicking my ass, I wrote this little thing. Not sure how I feel about it but I thought I’d post it anyways. The trip to Cornwall from Manhattan is 2 hours! We deserved more road trip banter. 
> 
> You can follow [my tumblr](https://mysteriesofloves.tumblr.com/) for updates on my writing. Hope you’re all well.

“Humphrey,” she says slowly, like she’s talking to a child. “My _purse_ isn’t even going to fit in this thing.” 

He waves a dismissive hand, leans over to open the passenger’s side door. 

“Stop the moaning and get in, we’re wasting time.” 

She obliges, hesitantly. There’s comically little space between them, like the car of a creaky amusement park ride. 

They discuss a game plan, rehearse fake confrontations with Juliet once they find her (“ _There will be no hair-pulling, Blair,”_ ) and tirelessly go over the directions. 

They’ve just barely left the city when Blair leans forward, then whips her head around. 

“We just passed a diner,” she says.

“I didn’t peg you for a diner food person.” 

“I’m _not_ , I have to use the washroom.” 

“We’ve been driving for half an hour. You can wait.”

“No, I _can’t_ ,” she lowers her voice conspiratorially, as if there was anyone around to hear. “I need to change my tampon.”

Dan nods, muttering _sorry_ , then switches lanes and takes the next exit. 

Blair watches the road. 

“Chuck usually got grossed out when I said things like that.” She says quietly, more to herself than to him. 

Dan shrugs. 

“I have a little sister. Maybe you forgot about her since you ran her out of the city.”

He pulls into the parking lot of the diner and leans back in his seat. 

“I’m -“ Blair clears her throat. “I’m _sorry_. How many times am I supposed to apologize?”

Dan turns to her, not looking as mad as he’d sounded. 

“You’ve never apologized.” 

“Oh,” Blair says again. She stays still for a moment, then opens the door. 

She turns, awkwardly ducking her head back into the car.

“Thanks for stopping, Humphrey.”

He shrugs, trying to stretch in his seat. 

“Buy me a coffee while you’re in there.”

She raises a brow.

“You’ve got the money, Waldorf.”

  
When they’ve run out of possible scenarios that could unfold in Cornwall, they fall into silence, Dan sipping on his coffee, Blair pulling a file from her purse and working her nails with it. 

“Speaking of Chuck,” he says, positing a groan from Blair. “How is... all that going?”

The movement next to him stops, her hands falling lightly in her lap. 

“Not that it’s your business, but it’s not going. We’re... on a break.”

Dan nods slowly. 

“Well, it’s only a matter of time.”

“Indeterminate time,” Blair says, and Dan detects a hint of irritation in her voice. 

When they come to a slow halt, stalling in a bit of traffic, Dan pulls his phone out. 

“Want some music?” He offers. 

“Please, I’m already sitting in a car with you for four hours. Don’t subject me to your awful taste in music.”

Dan ignores her, scrolling through his phone, then clicks on a song and balances the phone on the dashboard. 

_Oh, my life is changing every day, in every possible way._

“Oh,” Blair shifts in her seat so she can lean her head against the window, watching the Hemlocks pass them by. “I like this song.”

  
Blair splays the map out in her lap. 

“According to my calculations, we should be there by now.”

“Did your calculations factor in that you can’t drive?”

“ _Yes_ , but they did not factor in that we would be getting there in a tin can.”

“It’s vintage! I thought you’d like vintage!”

Blair scoffs.

“It’s not a bag, Humphrey, it’s a car. And if it moved faster than three miles an hour I wouldn’t still be stuck in here with you.”

Dan brings a hand to his mouth, rubbing his face, trying to stifle a laugh. He mutters something to himself, causing Blair to turn to him with raised eyebrows.

“Speak up, Humphrey.” 

Dan drums his fingers against the steering wheel. He chuckles dryly.

“I bet you think Bergman wanted to leave, because that’s what you would do.” 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“ _Casablanca?_ ”

Blair’s forehead creases slightly, thinking.

“Who would want to leave Humphrey Bogart?” 

Dan looks over at her, and she gives him a slight push. 

“Eyes on the road, Humphrey. What makes you think that?” 

Dan shrugs. He glances at her again, then back at the road.

“You’d stay with a guy who owns a bar instead of be the first lady of Czechoslovakia?”

“If I loved him,” Blair says quietly, her eyes tracking the green and brown leaves that pass them. “And he loved me, it wouldn’t matter.”

Dan shakes his head, like he’s trying to clear his mind of something. There’s a stretch of silence.

“You hated me the first time we met. You literally turned your nose up at me.”

She turns back to him, the quizzical look returning, then lets out a hum of recognition.

“I did not hate you, I was indifferent to you. Any nose turning was solely because your attire was entirely unfit for the occasion.”

“That’s not the first time we met.” Dan says, his smile turning sheepish. “It was Thanksgiving. You were piling Serena into a cab. You accused me of taking advantage of her.” 

Blair’s eyes narrow skeptically. 

“Your headband was green.”

Blair lets out a noise between a scoff and a laugh. 

“That’s _spooky_ , Humphrey.”

Dan shrugs. 

“I’m just observant. You’re hard to forget, looking the way you do.”

Blair’s eyebrows lift impossibly higher. 

“With the headbands. And Serena. The two of you together, like a... golden retriever and a pitbull.”

Dan glances at Blair and sees her pouting. He gives her a small, conceding nod. 

“ _And_ you’re pretty. Both of you. Hard to ignore.” 

Blair scrunches up her face, turning back to the window. 

“I remember that,” she says quietly, after a moment. “I didn’t realize that was you.”

_For the record, I haven’t given anything up._

_Except for your time, and your dignity._

Dan resolves to remain quiet for the rest of the ride back, finding himself struck at the truth in Blair’s words. The silence is stiff, uncomfortable, nothing like the surprising easiness that had been between them.

At a stop, Dan pulls his phone out. He sets it on the dashboard and presses play. 

_Then I open up and see, the person falling here is me, a different way to be._

He offers to drive her home from the van der Woodsen’s, and although she protests (“ _Five hours in close contact with you is more than enough_ ,”) she takes him up on it. 

When they get to Blair’s, he turns to her. 

“I don’t mind you, Waldorf.” 

“You just decided that?” 

He tilts his head. 

“No,” he turns away, a half-smile playing at his lips. “I just didn’t expect to not mind you this much.” 

She gets out, then pauses for a moment.

“You’re not that bad yourself, Humphrey.” 

He watches her turn back around as the door opens for her, and sees him still waiting. He smiles at her, and he thinks he sees her smile too. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Townie by Mitski (get it? lol)


End file.
